This fifteenth yearbook is published by the Flemish-Netherlands Association ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (The Hague), the Flemish Ministry of Culture (Brussels) and the Provinces of West and East Flanders.

Arts, lettres et culture de Flandre et des Pays-Bas, the-bilingual yearbook De Franse Nederlanden - Les Pays-Bas Français and a series of books in several languages covering various aspects of the culture of the Low Countries.

The Board of Directors of ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’

President:

Herman Balthazar

Managing Director:

Luc Devoldere

Directors:

Greetje van den Bergh

Marcel Cockaerts

Jan Desmyter

Bert De Graeve

Mark Leysen

Cecile Maeyaert-Cambien

Frits van Oostrom

Adriaan van der Staay

Ludo Verhoeven

Honorary President:

Philip Houben

Address of the Editorial Board and the Administration

‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’, Murissonstraat 260,

8930 Rekkem, Flanders, Belgium

T +32 56 41 12 01, F +32 56 41 47 07

www.onserfdeel.be, www.onserfdeel.nl

Head of Administration:

Bernard Viaene

Administrative Secretary:

Adinda Houttekier

Aims

With The Low Countries, a yearbook founded by Jozef Deleu (Chief Editor from 1993 until 2002), the editors and publisher aim to present to the English-speaking world the culture and society of the Dutch-speaking area which embraces both the Netherlands and also Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.

The articles in this yearbook survey the living, contemporary culture of the Low Countries as well as their cultural heritage. In its words and pictures The Low Countries provides information about literature and the arts, but also about broad social and historical developments in Flanders and the Netherlands.

The culture of Flanders and the Netherlands is not an isolated phenomenon; its development over the centuries has been one of continuous interaction with the outside world. In consequence the yearbook also pays due attention to the centuries-old continuing cultural interplay between the Low Countries and the world beyond their borders.

By drawing attention to the diversity, vitality and international dimension of the culture of Flanders and the Netherlands, The Low Countries hopes to contribute to a lively dialogue between differing cultures.